Blethering, havering and general Scotsnet style chit chat....

[ElephantOfRisk]

I'm in the car reading a few threads where folks are fed up with the misery and fighting so thought I'd start a new thread. Not for politics or covid or fighting , just general stuff 🙂

I've had a nice day, off work on hols so we took a wee drive down to Peebles and had lunch, bought a few pies from lovely butcher and now heading home.

Sympathies on the sleep deprivation @shouldistop. I swear DS didn't sleep properly until he was nearly four. He barely napped either, it was miserable. We used to let him come in with us at night when he was at toddler stage. Path of least resistance and all that.

@Scottishskifun dh tried 5 nights in a row a while ago and it seemed to be working but then he caught 2 colds one after the other and I felt cruel not feeding him when he wasn't well.
Im going to sleep in the spare room with a fan on to block out any noise
When he was 2-4 months he slept like a dream 9-11 hours without a peep. We've only had a handful of times that he's slept 11/12 hours through since then.

I let ds in with us too.

Not that I’m advocating it! Could never have done sleep training though, just not me

I think I might have been a horrible parent. Mine never wanted into bed with us or actually ever left their beds without permission. Though DS2 used to do a very loud rendition of Bob the Builder just to let us know he was awake....

DD1 was in with us only on nights when she was cutting teeth. She was our best sleeper.

DD2 ended up in with us quite often because she fed every bloody hour for the first 6 months, and I was utterly exhausted.

We didn't even try to keep DD3 in her own bed.

They're all good sleepers now (once they get to sleep, hate bedtime) and I am slowly starting to feel like a proper human. Only took 3 years.

Dinner was good. Needs practice but I feel like I did the recipe justice. Next week is Paraguay and a cheesy bread thing made from sweet corn.

@ElephantOfRisk probably just the kids personality.
Ds1 has only ever slept with me when he was really unwell with flu as a toddler and a couple of times when he was feeling insecure after ds2 was born.
Other than that pretty much 12 hours without a peep since he was about 6 months (except teething & illness).
Ds2 is a lot clingier than ds1 was. I sometimes think it's because I've got less time so he has to demand more attention. It probably is just his personality though.

Ds1 is also ridiculously easy at bedtime and has been since he was tiny. He gets bath, story, kiss and cuddle and that's it. I've never once had to stay with him while he fell asleep. Sometimes I've wanted to and he's told me "you can go away now mummy"

@ElephantOfRisk, you were just blessed with sleepers

DS doesn't ever want in with us 😂 I think it's because I used to trick him into napping in our bed and he remembers!
I never sleep well with him in the bed though as I don't switch off enough to get into a deep sleep!

After the bedtime routine mine ran up the stairs to get in bed! They never liked having sleepovers as the other person always wanted to stay up late etc and mine just wanted to read their books and go to sleep. Our friends have a girl in-between the age of my two and she wasn't a good sleeper. When she was little she said to them that it wasn't fair that they got to share a room and she was the one who was scared and had to sleep in her room by herself!

I slept with one or other of mine for so long that by the time ds2 didn't want to come in with me anymore i missed him

Me too @ssd 😳

If I had the choice I wouldn't even share with DH 😂. Much as I love him, I sleep so much better by myself. Unfortunately he sleeps better with me.... When his back is hurting he goes and sleeps in another room and we really need a new mattress but I'm not rushing to order one.

Dd slept 12 hours a night from 16 weeks. I thought the worst that first night.

Ds slept till he was 5 months then he didn't sleep until he was 3.5. It killed me.

Like @ElephantOfRisk ds was always a brilliant sleeper so I had to keep schtum around other parents of babies and toddlers

I used to feel guilty at work (went back when he was 4 months old) when people used to try to be empathetic, saying how difficult it was to be sleep deprived with young children

He actually tried to sleep slept through (at least, midnight to 6am) from less than 2 weeks old, and as he wasn't "gaining weight" quickly enough, even though he seemed healthy and happy (in hindsight, he was exhibiting "catch down growth" having been 4.08kg at birth) I was advised to wake him to feed him I did so for a bit, gradually extending the intervals and eventually gave up once he'd regained birthweight at about 6-7 weeks and the paediatric consultant we'd been referred to by the breasfeeeding counsellor at the maternity hospital (which held weekly support groups) was more interested in what my dad (a former colleague) was up to and told me not to worry (I wasn't ) and to stop the faff of supplemental expressing (and to continue the "ordinary" breastfeeding )

Ds (like his dad and me) is still an excellent sleeper

He did used to come in to bed with us in the morning for a wee snuggle before we all got going. But that leads to indirectly to two stories of "bad" parenting that I'll keep for another time

I got a sleeper too, also was never a fussy eater, she'll eat anything and loves more adventurous food, just like me.

Anyway another week, I'm just mooching today, going to check what's in my freezer/back of cupboards later and make some meal plans with what I've already got in.
Tonight I'm going to see Pretty Woman at the cinema.
Anyone up to anything interesting?

Sounds good cobra. Day off for me, I've stripped the bed and put it in the wash and then sat on my arse. Maybe get a few housey things done today. I've got some cod waiting to be dressed for dinner today.

Going to try to get DS to do something about his placement he needs to find for next summer.

I'm just about to go out for my first run since the end of August , when an old Achilles' tendon injury played up again

After some very painful, but very effective physio on it, courtesy of the rugby club, I'm hoping that this time around it will hold up

It's a beautiful day for it.

Enjoy your quiet day KobraKai.

Hope your run went well prettybird.

We have no plans really, just the usual daily grind. The in-laws are supposed to be coming to stay next week (not sure when they're arriving or for how long), but we're dealing with some very difficult behaviour from DD1, whose room they usually sleep in when they stay, so I'm thinking about asking them to get accommodation instead.

We think DD1 is on the spectrum (DH and his brother are, though DH has mostly been able to "grow out of it" as he terms it), but have no formal diagnosis. She's really struggling to control emotions and has been hurting her sisters. I don't want to leave her without her safe space even for a few days.

Would you be upset if asked to stay elsewhere in those circumstances? I'm really not sure what to do.

Im working today, quite busy with people starting to get xmas presents in. Looks lovely out there. Enjoy your day folks!

Ah that's a tricky one @GrouchyKiwi
I totally get your DD1 needs her own safe space.

I would say it depends on your in-laws and your DH will know them best.
It wouldn't bother me under those circumstances but my in laws would feel quite hurt, that they are family and we should try to squash them in somewhere even if it's the sofa!

Is there another configuration. could you bring younger ones in with you?
Do you have a sofa bed?
Or does you DH think his parents will be happy enough to stay elsewhere?

Difficult situation Kiwi.

How old is your DD? How easy/close/reasonably priced is local accommodation? If it was me coming to see you i'd prefer to stay elsewhere anyway and just visit/go trips/meals out etc with you rather than impose anyway, but that's me. Would the in-laws likely to be understanding or offended?

Does your house set up allow for any other staying options?

Getting a bit wild, dark and rainy here. I've done a bit of ironing, shoved the dishwasher on had lunch and now procrastinating :o

I've got a few Christmas bits done also but I'd put in a big order of things for my great nephews and nieces (fancy water bottles) and one of the items was on back order and due to be fulfilled by the end of this month so they've held back the entire order and now saying further delays so will be end November and will be dispatched early December. My problem is that I then need to post all the gifts out and I think it's cutting it fine. The one that is causing the issue is that I ordered one child size one for the 5 year old and as the others are age 9 upwards, i got the normal adult size. He's not a big 5 so I think the adult size will be a bit big for his hands but I was trying to keep the gifts the same for ease. Now not sure whether to ask them to cancel the child one and dispatch the rest or what :(

I would cancel the child one @ElephantOfRisk to avoid a potential stressful disaster
You can always then reorder it once you're actually in receipt of the others.
Then your worst case scenario is one has a different present rather than no-one has a present!

yes, I think I'm going to have to do that. I was just looking to see if I could get a similar one elsewhere but most of them still seem to be 500ml size which is the size I've bought for all the older ones. The kids one is only 260ml. None of the patterned ones in the bigger size are suitable for a little boy really and I could get a plain one but then his siblings would have patterned ones and he wouldn't. Gaaahhh.